just a quick question. my max comes with stock with 2 8" Bose subs and now i am adding a 10" MTX SledgeHammer on an enclosure. does that technically give me the same bass as adding two 12" subs to a car with no stock subwoofers? meaning, does 8+8+10 = 26 or how does it work?

 

It's a little more complicated than that. Subs move air. You have to know the piston area of the cone (Sd parameter when looking at the Theile/Small parameters) and the maximum peak to peak excursion.

So, let's look at the MTX 4500. The Sd is 380cm^2. The xmax is 9.4mm (or .94cm). Total volume of air this sub is capable of moving is .94*2*380 = 714.4cm^3 or .714 liters of air per sub.

As a comparision, the Soundsplinter RL-i 10" has an Sd of 307cm^2 (a little smaller cone) and an xmax of 20.00mm or 2cm (a lot more than the MTX). Total volume of air this sub is capable of moving is 2*2*307 = 1228cm^3 or 1.2 liters of air. So the RL-i can move almost twice as much air as the MTX I linked to. This does not take into account sensitivity or sound quality. Both of those are big variables in subs as well and should match the goals of your system.

Finally to answer your question, you can't really compare your 4 subs to anything. You have two MTX 10's and some 8" factory Bose subs. That's it. There are way to many other variables to try and compare it to a pair of 12's or a single 18 or anything else.

-Robert

 

^^^ wow, my head spun for a little but im ok now, great informative post.

 

Sorry about that but I'm a sub nut.

Since I ran out of time on the last post, here's another example. The new Resonant Engineering XXX 18. Sd = 1,210cm^2. xmax = 54mm (5.4cm).
5.4*2*1210 = 13,068cm^3 or 13 liters of total air movement. This single sub can move as much air as 18 of the MTX subs I linked to in my earlier post.

-Robert

 

Now that's a sub!

 

thanks for the taking the time to explain all of that. and actually, i got a single 10" enclosure. one of my friends is a car stereo salesman at work and he recommended that for me, since i dont want any trunk rattling but rather only to add some thump to my stock bose speakers. that's basically it. thanks though!